# Textbox

## Overview

This guide will show how to use textbox in your applications. See how easy it is to drag and drop textbox onto your forms and connect them to your business logic. textbox can be modified, styled and even changed at runtime.

To see a live sample of the component you can go [here](https://samples-dev.samples.servoy-cloud.eu/solution/components?a=textbox).

## Get Started

## Modifying a textbox at Design-Time

Textbox, like all components, have properties which can be modified at design-time to set the appearance and behavior of the component. Select the textbox in the [Form Editor](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoy-developer/object-editors/form-editor) to see a list of properties in the [Component Properties Editor](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoy-developer/views/properties#properties). Below are some common properties and how to set them at design-time.

### Setting the placeholderText

The text displayed inside the textbox can be modified by setting its [`placeholderText`](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoyextensions/ui-components/input-control/textbox#placeholdertext) property. This will just be plain text which will be shown as an instruction on what you can do within the textbox. When you insert a value in the textbox the placeholderText will disappear and your inserted text will take it's place. For more options open the [Text Property Editor](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoy-developer/object-editors/text-property-editor).

### Setting the tooltipText

TextBox, like many components, can display tooltip messages when a user hovers their cursor. Most often, this will just be plain text that describes what will happen on-click. In this case, just enter the value into the editor. For more options open the [Text Property Editor](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoy-developer/object-editors/text-property-editor).

### Styling

Like all components, a textbox can be styled using themes, variants and raw CSS. To apply any available style class, simply enter one or more space-delimited values for the `styleClass` property.

## Handling Events

Like most components, textbox have events, which allow you to execute some logic when something happens in the UI. Of course, the most common event for a textbox is the `onDataChange` event, which is triggered when the textbox is clicked or the user hits the `Enter` key while the textbox has focus.

To Handle the event, double-click the value for the `onDataChange` property in the [Properties Editor](https://github.com/Servoy/gitbook/blob/master/reference/servoy-developer/views/component-properties-editor.md). You will see the [Method Selection Wizard](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoy-developer/object-editors/method-selection-wizard). You'll have the option select an existing Method or create a new Method. The method will be called when the TextBox's `onDataChange` event is fired and the [Event](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoycore/dev-api/application/jsevent) object will be passed to it.

```javascript
/**
 * @param {JSEvent} event
 *
 * @properties={typeid:24,uuid:"A74C281C-00AA-46AA-BB38-500C937F2D1A"}
 */
function onDataChange(event) {
	// Enter custom code
}
```

{% hint style="info" %}
See the [textbox reference](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoyextensions/ui-components/input-control/textbox) for comprehensive list of [all events](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoyextensions/ui-components/input-control/textbox#events)
{% endhint %}

## Modifying a textbox at Runtime

textbox, like many components, can be modified at runtime through code. Below are a few examples of controlling a textbox from code.

### Enabling / Disabling a textbox (delete/change if not the case)

You can easily change the `enabled` state of a textbox at runtime.

```javascript
function disableTextBox(){
	elements.myTextBox.enabled = false;
}
```

### Hiding/Showing a textbox (delete/change if not the case)

You can easily change the `visible` state of a textbox at runtime.

```javascript
function hideTextBox(){
	elements.myTextBox.visible = false;
}
```

## Calling textbox API Methods

Like most components, a textbox has API methods which can be called from code. Below is an example of common API calls.

### Give Keyboard Focus ()

You can easily give keyboard focus to a textbox using the [`requestFocus`](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoyextensions/ui-components/input-control/textbox#requestfocus) method.

```javascript
function focusTextBox(){
	elements.myTextBox.requestFocus();
}
```

### Add CSS Style Class ()

You can easily add a style class to a textbox using the `addStyleClass` method.

```javascript
function AddStyleClassTextBox(){
	elements.myTextBox.addStyleClass('mycssclass');
}
```

## Related Articles

The following articles are recommended for additional reading:

* [textbox Reference Documentation](https://docs.servoy.com/reference/servoyextensions/ui-components/input-control/textbox)
* [Styling and Themes](https://docs.servoy.com/guides/develop/application-design/styling-and-themes/font-icons)
* [Scripting the UI](https://docs.servoy.com/guides/develop/programming-guide/scripting-the-ui)